Receptacle for use in cleaning paintroller sleeves or the like



Oct. 16, 1956 P. ZELKOWITZ RECEPTACLE FOR USE IN CLEANING PAINT-ROLLER SLEEVES OR THE LIKE Filed Feb. 16, 1953 INVENTOR.

BY M A'Z (Jr/24y RECEPTACLE FOR USE IN CLEANING PAINT- ROLLER SLEEVES OR THE LIKE Philip Zelkowitz, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Empire Oil Company, Chicago, Ill.

Application February 16, 1953, Serial No. 336,976

1 Claim. (Cl. 68-213) This invention relates to a receptacle for facilitating the cleansing and storage of fabric sleeves as used on a roller for applying paint and the like.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial No. 307,778, filed September 4, 1952, and now Patent No. 2,704,931 of March 29, 1955.

In recent years the painting of walls, etc. by means of a roller-type applicator having a lambs wool removable sleeve has, to a substatnial extent, supplanted bristle brushes. Nearly all non-professionals, e. g. householders doing home painting, find these rollers far easier to use and less expensive than brushes but, as in the case with many home craftsmen, great laxity is encountered in the proper cleaning and care of the roller sleeve. In this connection it will be recognized that such fabric rollers must be thoroughly cleaned after each use, otherwise the dried paint is thereafter practically irremovable and the sleeve must be discarded. Moreover, even assuming proper cleaning, storage of the sleeve presents another problem, in that if it is immediately replaced on the mandrel of the applicator, with the intention of thereby preserving its shape, full opportunity to dry out is not afforded, and any residual paint can cause permanent adhesion between the sleeve and mandrel. On the other hand if the sleeve, flaccid following saturation with the paint solvent is left freely to dry, its inherent weight combined with the circular cross section, may cause permanent deformation.

In view of the foregoing, the principal object of my invention is to provide a receptacle to facilitate the cleaning of the sleeve following each use.

Another object is the provision of a receptacle for the function aforesaid in which the sleeve may be stored between each use.

Still another object is to provide a receptacle of tinned sheet iron or equivalent low cost material in order that the user may purchase several without stint, and thus care for more than one sleeve at a time, or, if the receptacle has been used often so that the paint residue has accumulated to a level incompatible with efiicient use thereof, the same may be scrapped.

Other objects will appear from the following description which, taken together with the accompanying drawing, discloses a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In this drawing:

Fig. 1 shows a vertical, medial cross section through the receptacle and the therein-carried sleeve and solvent; and

Fig. 2 is a transverse cross section taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

In respect of the following description it will be understood that the type of sleeve to which the invention is particularly adapted comprises a woven body having a pile of lambs wool incorporated therewith for holding and applying the paint, and is in the form of a cylinder from two to nine inches in length having a more or less standard internal diameter of 1 /2 inches. Having rer into which the paint residue may settle.

2,76,6d3 Patented Oct. 16, 1956 ice gard to the foregoing considerations the invention, broadly contemplated, lies in providing a receptacle having a capacity sufficient to contain an amount of solvent calculated to clean a sleeve in average condition, i. e. saturated with paint. The receptacle is provided with a mouth of convenient size to receive the cross section of the roller circumscribed by a neck having threaded or bayonet-type securing means cooperative with corresponding means formed as a part of a cap for closing the mouth. A cylindrical mandrel is supported from the inner face of the cap, and is of substantially the same diameter as the interior of the sleeve frictionally to receive the same in suspended condition in the solvent. Preferably the mandrel is in the form of an axially-split sleeve of slightly greater normal diameter than the interior diameter of the sleeve to be carried thereon whereby to allow snug retention of the sleeve. Alternatively or cumulatively the mandrel may be provided with embossments for frictionally maintaining the sleeve thereon. If desired the mandrel may be axially corrugated to facilitate circulation of the solvent about the zone whereat the sleeve and mandrel are coextensive. In another aspect the invention contemplates the provision of a cylindrical stub upstanding from the bottom wall of the receptacle to support the lower end of the longer sleeves. Such stub may be the apical portion of a conical bottom so arranged as to define, with the principal side wall of the receptacle, a gutter or well for receiving paint residue. Preferably the receptacle is of such diameter as to facilitate the gripping thereof between the hands, and is of a length capable of receiving the longest sleeve encountered commercially.

Turning to the drawing there is shown a preferably cylindrical receptacle including a side wall 1d, a bottom wall 11, and a top wall 12, all joined by seaming or otherwise to form an inexpensive, fluid-tight container. The top wall 12 includes a neck 14 having screw threads, bayonet-type protuberances or other common means for securement of the correspondingly formed closure 15. A gasket 16 may be included if desired.

Secured, to and depending from, the closure 15 is a mandrel 21 preferably including a radially-extending flange 22 to facilitate junction thereof by soldering, spotwelding or other process to the interior fiat face of the closure, and centrally thereof. The paint applicator sleeve is shown at 26 and is frictionally received on body 20 of the mandrel. In order to facilitate such engagement the body 20 is preferably axially slotted or split, as at 27, and/or may be provided with embossrnents 2a.

While the basic mode of employment of the device may be apparent from the foregoing, it is pointed out that after a sufiicient quantity of solvent is poured into the receptacle the sleeve is fitted over the mandrel and the closure replaced. The receptacle may now be shaken thoroughly to cleanse the sleeve, and then put to one side. During the idle period the residue thus flushed out of the sleeve will precipitate to the lower portion of the container. By making the interior depth of the receptacle sufiiciently large a zone for accumulation of normal accumulations of residue may'be provided without the same redepositing upon the sleeve.

Desirably the bottom wall 11 is generally conical as shown, to define, with the wall 10, a well or gutter 31 Moreover, the wall 11 may be terminated as a cylindrical stub or button 32 of the same diameter as the interior of the sleeve 26 whereby sleeves of the longer lengths may he supported laterally also at the lower end thereof.

As an alternative embodiment either or both the mandrel body 29 and the stub 32 may be axially fluted or corrugated to permit circulation of the solvent over virtually the entire inner surface of the sleeve 26.

By avoiding an acute juncture between the conical bottom wall 11 and the side wall 10, and as represented by the annular area 37, removal of sediment from the well 31 is greatly facilitated, as compared with the case wherein the conical bottom is brought directly against the side wall '10. In the latter instance it is obviously more difficult to clean the bottom of the container.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention, it will be understood, of course, that I do not wish to be limited thereto since many modifications may be made, and I therefore contemplate by the appended claim to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A device for cleansing and storing a sleeve for a roller-type paint applicator or the like comprising an elongated, erect receptacle for receiving a solvent and including a bottom wall and having a mouth at the upper end for admitting the sleeve, a closure for said month, said receptacle and closure having mutuallyengageable means for retention of said closure, said closure including means whereby the sleeve may be supported on said closure pending immersion of the sleeve in the solvent and subsequent attachment of the closure comprising a cylindrical mandrel of a diameter slightly greater than the interior diameter of the sleeve extending within said receptacle when said closure is in position, said mandrel being of resilient sheet material and slit axially for deformation for frictional engageintent with the sleeve when the upper end thereof is mounted thereover, said bottom wall being provided with a cylindrical inward protuberance in alignment with and of diameter slightly less than the interior diameter of the sleeve to receive the lower end of the sleeve as the same is immersed in the solvent, the junction between the closure and the receptacle being positioned above the lower end of the mandrel in order that a sleeve, when in position in the receptacle and when the receptacle contains sufficient solvent to submerge the sleeve, may be immersed in the solvent without overflow, and said bottom wall being inclined upwardly from substantially the junction of said bottom wall and the lateral Wall er the receptacle toward said protuberance to define with said lateral wall a well for accumulation of solids precipitated out of the solvent.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,218,880 Hanson Oct. 22, 1940 2,592,485 Stair Apr. 8, 1952 2,627,276 Eggleton Feb. 3, 1953 2,643,661 Shanahan June 30, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 466,269 Canada July 4, 1950 666,244 Great Britain Feb. 6, 1952 670,386 Great Britain Apr. 16, 1952 673,137 Great Britain June 4, 1952 

